A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,113

money and go from there.”

Seth tilted his head, a skeptical expression on his face. “Can’t you get into more trouble for blackmailing someone than fighting?”

“It wouldn’t be a fight—it would be a beating. And that’s called assault. So, no. Besides, this isn’t blackmail. I’m not going to take his money. I just want to find out who’s responsible so that I can shut him—or her—down.”

“Because you’re not in love with Emery...”

Seth’s sarcasm irritated Dallas. “I never said I didn’t care about her.”

Seth seemed to consider his response. “Fine. We’ll give it a try.”

“We?”

“I’m going with you tomorrow night.”

“Why? You don’t need to get involved.”

“I’m jumping in to make sure a cooler head prevails,” he said, but Dallas knew Seth was coming along to watch his back. He just wasn’t the type to ever admit to something that sentimental.

“Sure you are,” he muttered.

26

It hadn’t been easy to tell Susan that she was going to leave town early. But her employer took the news well. “That’s fine,” she said. “My granddaughter just got out of school for Christmas break and is eager to earn some money to buy presents. She can step in. She’s helped me so much in the past, I won’t even have to train her.”

“And you’ll have Tobias, right? The way he looks out for you makes me feel a little better.”

An affectionate smile curved Susan’s lips. “I don’t want to be a burden on Tobias. But you’re right—he makes it a point to check in and do what he can.”

Emery almost left it at that, but she was so curious about Susan and Tobias’s strange relationship that she couldn’t stop herself from asking how it had come to pass. “Is there a particular reason he’s so attentive? I realize this might be none of my business, and it’s fine if you’d rather not tell me, of course, but you mentioned that he’s taught you not to judge others and...I can’t help wondering how.”

Susan stopped lifting the oatmeal cookies she’d just baked into the display window. “You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

Setting the spatula aside, she leaned one hip against the counter. “You know my son’s a paraplegic. He worked at New Horizons but moved to LA a couple of months ago when he was offered a fabulous job as part of an IT team for a big company. He’ll be home for Christmas, but you’ll be gone by then, so you’ll have to meet him another time.”

Emery spotted movement outside the front window and thought they were about to get a new customer, but was relieved when the small group passed by the store without coming in. “If he’s anything like your daughter, I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’ll like him—everyone does,” Susan said confidently. “Anyway, when he was only eleven and my daughter was seventeen, she took him to a party without my permission. She wanted to see Maddox, her husband now, who had Tobias with him. Tobias was on some type of drug—acid, I think—and while he was wandering around the house, he found a handgun in the nightstand of the master bedroom.”

Emery covered her mouth. “Oh no...”

“Oh yes,” Susan said ruefully. “Atticus was looking for a quiet place to watch TV, away from all of those partying teenagers, but when he walked into the master bedroom, he startled Tobias at the wrong moment.”

Emery’s heart dropped along with her hand. “Don’t tell me he fired the gun.”

Susan nodded sadly. “I thank God every day that he didn’t kill him, but Atticus hasn’t been able to walk since.”

“Wow.” Emery bit her lip. “Tobias didn’t get in trouble for what he’d done?”

“He did. They tried him as an adult, and he spent many years in prison. As a matter of fact, he’s only been out for eighteen months.”

“And you’ve forgiven him?” Emery asked, as shocked as she was impressed.

“There were a lot of mitigating factors to what happened—factors I couldn’t take into account at the time. The way he was raised. The lack of intention. The severity of his punishment. The remorse he felt. It’s taken me years, but I’ve finally come to terms with it all, and with him.”

“What about Atticus?”

“He was able to forgive before I could.”

“Wow.” Emery puffed out her cheeks before letting the air go. “I had no idea. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of anything like that before.”

“No doubt about it—it’s a tragedy. Although I’m sure we’re not, I hope we’re the only ones something like that ever happens to,” she said as she returned